Honorary Degree Recipients

These degrees are intended to honor individuals whose significant community service, scholarly or artistic achievements are worthy of Drexel University's highest honor. The awarding of honorary degrees is intended to encourage a standard of excellence which is exemplary to students and to society.

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Edmund D. Bossone, who, with his wife, Kay, is among the leading philanthropists in Drexel's history, will receive a doctor of engineering, honoris causa. Drexel's Edmund D. Bossone Research Enterprise Center, designed by I.M. Pei, is named in honor of the Bossones. He retired as an engineer from the Philadelphia Electric Company and is a successful real estate developer and investor. He is a graduate of the Drexel Class of 1953.
Walter D'Alessio, vice chairman of NorthMarq Capital, a real estate investment banking firm based in Minneapolis with offices in Philadelphia, will receive a doctor of science, honoris causa. D'Alessio has more than 40 years of experience in planning, developing, financing and managing major real estate projects in Philadelphia, including 12 years as executive director of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority and 10 years as executive vice president of the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation. He serves on several boards of corporations, professional associations and civic groups.
Charles Isdell, director of aviation in Philadelphia since 2000, will receive a doctor of engineering, honoris causa. Isdell oversees Philadelphia International Airport, the nation's ninth-busiest airport. His commitment to passenger comfort and convenience has been the PIA's hallmark in the post-9/11 era. Isdell was named Airport Director of the Year by Airport Revenue News magazine in 2003. He received the March of Dimes Service to Humanity Award in 2003 and the Multicultural Affairs Congress' Industry Appreciation Award in 2005.
Solomon "Kal" Rudman, a music and show business pioneer and legend, will receive a doctor of humane letters, honoris causa. Rudman is the founder and publisher of six radio and music industry publications such as Friday Morning Quarterback. The Kal and Lucille Rudman Institute for Entertainment Industry Studies in Drexel's Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design is named in their honor. Rudman is a member of the Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame in Philadelphia.
Donna E. Shalala, the longest-serving U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services, from 1993 to 2001, will receive a doctor of humane letters, honoris causa. Shalala is professor of political science and president of the University of Miami and has more than 25 years of experience as a scholar, teacher and administrator. She is a leading scholar on the political economy of state and local governments and has held tenured professorships at Columbia University, University of Wisconsin and City University of New York.

Health Sciences

Heinz Drexel, M.D., Doctor of Letters, honoris causa.
Professor of medicine and chairman of the Department of Medicine of the General Hospital of Feldkirch, the leading hospital of the most western province of Austria, Vorarlberg. He is also a professor at the University of Liechtenstein. Throughout his career, the main topic of Dr. Drexel's research has been clinical medicine, with a focus on lipoprotein physiology and pathology, diabetes, obesity and coronary heart disease.
Steven A. Wartman, M.D., Ph.D., Doctor of Letters, honoris causa.
General internist and sociologist with more than 25 years of experience in academic medicine. In 2005 he was named the third president of the Association of Academic Health Centers, which seeks to improve the nation's healthcare system by mobilizing and enhancing the strengths and resources of academic health centers. He remains Distinguished Professor of Medicine at Georgetown University School of Medicine and adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences.